Knights Errant

In France, from 768 to 987, the land was encumbered with
fortified castles; in England this was not the case till the reign of
Stephen. The lords of these castles used to carry off females and
commit rapine, so that a class of men sprang up, at least in the pages
of romance, who roamed about in full armour to protect the defenceless
and aid the oppressed.

“`Proxima quæque metit gladio' is the perfect account of a knight
errant.” —Dryden: Dedication of the Æneis.